1. Fields of the Invention
The invention relates generally to an apparatus and method of precisely determining the actual position and attitude of a host vehicle operating on a select course or path, such as, a highspeed highway and/or in congested traffic, or an aircraft in a landing pattern, and of multiple moving or fixed targets which represent potential collision hazards with a host vehicle, and, then, generating and displaying warning signals and avoidance maneuvers to avoid the collision and, in the absence of effective timely action by the host operator, automatically controlling the host vehicle to avoid the collisions or minimize any injuries and damage therefrom. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of a Global Positioning System ("GPS"), and a differential GPS ("DGPS") supplemented by a Local or Psuedolite Positioning System ("LPS" or "Psuedolite") as the primary host vehicle and target locating system with centimeter accuracy, further supplemented by any of a plurality of conventional all-weather and/or visual scanners and digital computer systems to detect, recognize, track and predict the collision impact point of all relevant potential targets, including other vehicles, fixed geographical obstructions, pedestrians and the like. More particularly, the invention further relates to multiple antennae, GPS determined vehicle attitude for use in generating automobile-on-the-highway, multiple target relative location, and collision avoidance warnings and maneuvers. More particularly, the invention further relates to an inter-vehicle and vehicle to base or satellite communication system for transmitting GPS, DGPS, and LPS position data, as well as, relevant target data to other vehicles and central or local control centers for information and control action. More particularly, the present invention still further relates to the use of neural networks and fuzzy logic rule sets for generating and developing optimal and prioritized warning and avoidance maneuvers, and generating related optimally coordinated control signals for all relevant host automobile control systems which are then automatically implemented, subject to operator intervention and override, to avoid collisions or to optimize prevention of injury or damage.
2. Discussion of Background and Prior Art
a. General
Automobile accidents are one of the most serious problems faced by our society, both in terms of personal deaths and injuries, and in financial losses suffered as a result of accidents. Human suffering caused by death or injury from such accidents is immense. In addition, the costs of medical treatment, permanent injury to accident victims resulting in loss of life opportunities, and financial losses resulting from damage to automobiles and other valuable objects or structures involved in such accidents are staggering. Providing improved systems and methods to minimize such personal and financial losses is an urgent and very important problem deserving the highest possible priority. Increasing populations and increased use of automobiles worldwide with resulting increased congestion on our highways and roadways makes development of improved control and warning systems for collision avoidance even more important. While many advances have been made in vehicle safety, including, for example, the use of seatbelts, airbags and more rigid and safer automobile body structures, much room for improvement exists in automotive systems, in general, and in automobile-on-the-highway warning and control systems, in particular.
b. Positioning Self and Multiple Targets by GPS
For example, impressive advances have been made in various areas of technology that can be applied to the automotive collision avoidance and warning system problem. One dynamic area of rapid technological development exists today in the form of GPS satellite location and tracking systems. Many patents have been issued for various applications of GPS for locating and tracking objects, and for navigation purposes. Also, such GPS systems have been augmented with earthbound pseudo-satellite ("Pseudolite") systems and methods that provide centimeter accuracy with real time, kinematic positioning information for use in aircraft landing systems. various configurations of GPS-based tracking and communication systems and methods, including Pseudolite systems and methods, are described in the following documents, each of which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference: Logsdon, Tom, The Navstar Global Positioning System, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York (1992), ISBN 0-422-01040-0; Leick, Alfred, GPS Satellite Surveying, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1990), ISBN 0-471-81990-5; Hurn, Jeff, GPS--A Guide to the Next Utility, Trimble Navigation, Ltd., Sunnyvale, Calif. (1989); Hurn, Jeff, Differential GPS Explained, Trimble Navigation Ltd., Sunnyvale, Calif. (1993); Singh, M. S. and Grewal, H. K., Autonomous Vehicle Using WADGPS, IEEE Intelligent Vehicle Symposium, September, (1995); Walter, T., et.al., Flight Trials of the Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS), ION GPS-94, September, (1994); Ndili, A., GPS Pseudolite Signal Design, ION GPS-94, September, (1994); Cobb, H. S., Precision Landing Tests with Improved Integrity Beacon Pseudolites, ION GPS-95, September, (1995); Walter, T. and Euge, P., Weighted RAIM for Precision Approach, ION GPS-95, September, (1995); and U.S. Patent Numbers: Remondi U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,363; Okamoto U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,787; Dekel U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,656; Sprague U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,816; Schuchman U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,813; Penny U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,432; Smith U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,238; Gooch U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,540; Sennott U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,125; Kass U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,934; FitzGerald U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,958; Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,224; Class U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,212; Allison U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,332; Bird U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,537; Izidon U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,302; Gildea U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,244; Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,194; Mueller U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,322; Teare U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,652; Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,842; Mansell U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844; Geier U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,829; Bertiger U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,805; Ferguson U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,566; Hatch U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,489; Fraughton U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,836; Allison U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,179; Joguet U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,655.
The most pertinent of these GPS references are those that deal with some phase of collision avoidance technology, especially in an automobile-on-the-highway environment.
(1) Providing GPS Position Data All-weather and Inter-vehicle, Detecting/Tracking Multiple Targets, and Warning of Collision
In a system to Izidon U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,302 there is disclosed a GPS based anti-collision warning system in which each vehicle is equipped with GPS to provide location and trajectory to predict collision and warn of the same. By virtue of its ability to also receive GPS position information only from similarly equipped vehicles, as well as, for itself, Izidon provides a restricted, but nonetheless, all-weather, day/night, radar-less, and vision-less system for detecting obstacles that represent collision hazards, analyzing the target and own path and computing a trajectory for each object and self to predict a collision hazard and provide a warning to operator. Izidon discloses that fixed objects in space (land hazards) may also be stored in memory and a collision hazard therewith also warned. The reference discloses a conventional TDMA, random access, communication system using 2 ms time slices and 600 .mu.s to transmit 300 bits of data and a 200 ms cycle time enabling 100 vehicles to participate, with each vehicle receiving the GPS position data of all other vehicles. If redundant broadcasting is used, only 50 aircraft are enabled to participate, with position updates at a 10 Hz rate, which is half the 20 Hz rate at which visual images could be processed by the human eye. However,the Izidon reference fails to disclose any automatic control mechanism, and, while it specifically states that it is applicable to aircraft, sea, and land vehicles, it is, nonetheless, designed primarily for fighter aircraft and fails to disclose a GPS or other position locating system which would be sufficiently accurate or fast enough to enable it to be effectively operated in an automobile-on-the-highway environment where multiple target data with centimeter accuracy is rapidly and repeatedly required rather than the 100 m accuracy and 200 ms cycle time disclosed by Izidon.
(2) Controlling Automobile-on-the-Highway with Centimeter Accurate GPS Data, Computer Vision, Neural Networks and Adaptive Learning
In an experimental system to Singh published Sep. 25, 1995 there is described an autonomous vehicle using a wide area differential a GPS system ("WADGPS") applied in a robust system that readily deals with selective availability errors, ephemeris, and satellite clock errors which Singh claims guarantees an error level of decimeter/centimeter accuracy in a ground vehicle control algorithm. Singh discloses a fully automatic ground vehicle using a digital computer control system which includes guidance, navigation, mission handling, GPS model, road model, atmospheric model, engine propulsion model, and actuator model. Singh claims the human intervention is completely eliminated by using reliable sensors/actuators to make performance collision-free and congestion-free. Additional sensors which aid the GPS calculations include dead reckoning, radar, and video camera. The vehicle transmits information about its position and velocity to other immediate participants for collision avoidance and lane changing. Singh provides centerline deviation autosteering by pulse code modulation ("PCM") and acceleration/braking control for longitudinal control using an adaptive learning system. The Singh reference is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Singh does not disclose a warning system, any type of lateral control algorithm or the use of fuzzy logic inference rule sets. Moreover, Singh points out that only one meter accuracy is all that is required for his collision avoidance control and only five meter accuracy is all that is needed for his collision avoidance of hazardous situations.
(3) Controlling Aircraft and Miscellaneous Mobile Receivers to Centimeter Accuracy
In a system by Stanford University a prototype kinematic GPS system with integrity beacon landing system ("IBLS") for aircraft provides a real-time architecture with centimeter level positioning accuracy. See, Stanford Students' Device Allows Centimeter-Accuracy GPS Landing, Air Safety Week, Oct. 24, 1995, V. 8, No. 41; Lawrence, David, A Real-Time Architecture for Kinematics GPS Applied to the Integrity Beacon Landing System, ION GPS-95, June 1995; FAA Tests DGPS River Approaches in Washington, D.C., GPS Report, Sep. 23, 1993, V. 3, No. 19; and, references cited supra, for example, articles to Cobb and Walter and patents to Hatch, Allison, Brown, and Remondi. While these references are all aircraft landing system applications, it appears that for some time centimeter accuracy has been obtainable in selected GPS ground applications where differential GPS has been employed with carrier tracking techniques. See Herring, Thomas, The Global Positioning System, Scientific America, February 1996, pgs. 44-50.
In summary, it appears that heretofore, an automobile has not been controlled to GPS-based centimeter accuracy in a fully integrated collision avoidance and warning system which detects targets in all directions, develops collision avoidance maneuvers through use of fuzzy logic inference rules and is capable of reliable automatic control in a multiple target, high speed, on-the-highway environment.
Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide such an automobile-on-the-highway collision warning control system and method which is implemented to avoid collisions between motor vehicles and/or between motor vehicles and other hazardous roadway obstacles and to warn drivers of impending collisions so that evasive action may be taken.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide such a system and method that uses GPS technology augmented by Psuedolite technology to not only accurately locate multiple vehicles on a roadway and to derive vehicle velocity and acceleration vectors for use in combination with such GPS Psuedolite augmented coordinates to determine hazardous situations and derive control and warning signals to attempt to avoid and minimize the effects of imminent collisions, but also, to provide such kinematic calculations with centimeter accuracy and in due time such that adequate corrective action may be taken.
(4) GPS Vehicle Attitude Determination
It is also known to place multiple GPS antennae on the extremities of a vehicle and, by comparing the phase differences in signals received simultaneously, determine the attitude of the vehicle relative to a reference plane in space or on the ground. See U.S. Patent Numbers as follows: Deem U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,293; Rosen U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,358; Sekine U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,358; Beier U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,469; Uematsu U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,812; Hatch U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,889; Hatch U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,489; Timothy U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,356; Ward U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,610; Timothy U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,489; Knight U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,861; Babitch U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,286; Counselman U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,422; Evans U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,620; Timothy U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,356; Knight U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,861; Babitch U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,286; Timothy U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,489. Each of these references is incorporated herein by reference. However, it remains to be fully developed, and, accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multiple antennae, GPS based, automobile-on-the-highway, centimeter accurate, attitude determination system which not only determines the vehicle attitude at any given time, but also, generates host automobile. attitude compensated warning information and host automobile attitude compensated anti-collision maneuver information which, inter ali, helps the driver get out of an unusual attitude situation, such as, a skid or spin, while taking corrective action to avoid a collision or minimize the effects of an unavoidable collision.
(5) Communicating GPS Data Inter-vehicle/Worldwide
Numerous additional GPS references disclose inter-vehicle GPS communications or GPS communications with satellites or a central control. See, for example, Popular Mechanics, November 1993 pgs. 51-52; Yashiro, Tomyuki, A Network Based on Inter-vehicle Communications, pgs. 345-350, and U.S. Patent Numbers Aguado U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,337; Benard U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,102; Durboraw U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,504; Simms U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,974, Mansell U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844; Gooch U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,540; Dekel U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,656; and Bertiger U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,805 each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, none of the aforesaid systems provide communications as part of an integrated GPS/DGPS/LPS automobile-on-the-highway, fuzzy logic implemented, anti-collision system which transmits inter-vehicle and to central control a comprehensive set of such GPS based position and related vehicular data.
Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention is to provide GPS-based communications between vehicles and between individual vehicles and motor vehicle control centers, directly, or indirectly via an intermediate receiver, such as via a satellite, for optimum real time dissemination of vehicle location and movement vectors and related vehicular data to permit real time calculation of imminent dangerous situations.
(6) GPS and Scanning
Also of interest is Ruszkowski U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,089 which is a rifle-type laser portable target locator system housing a GPS receiver to visually bounce light off of a target and transmit the calculated target coordinates to a weapons system on a continuously updated basis to cause the weapon to collide with the target. Multiple target capabilities are included along with target recognition by visual comparison to stored data images. While a scanning type laser system, as suggested by Shaw U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,037, is possible, such a scanning system has not been suggested for use in a congested on-the-road automotive environment involving handling multiple targets simultaneously. Each of these references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to scan multiple targets in a congested automobile-on-the-highway, locate the position of the host automobile and relevant targets in GPS coordinates and transmit that data inter-vehicle and to a fixed control center for use in an anti-collision and warning system.
(7) Controlling Other Automobile-on-the-Highway Apparatuses From GPS Data
It is also known that certain ones of automotive control apparatuses and mechanisms may be operated based on a GPS position calculation, such as, in Capurka U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,440 which preferably operates vehicle lights based on local lighting rules, but could operate other vehicle systems, as well, as a result of certain performance parameters, such as, temperature, altitude, relative humidity. of a similar nature is Dekel U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,656 which operates engine, steering, transmission, windows, doors, or air conditioning as a result of GPS location automatically transmitted by stolen vehicles to a central station or another vehicle. Dekel's operation, however, is of a limited nature and for a limited purpose. Each of these references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to use an apparatus and method which broadly uses GPS based data to operate a plurality of host automobile systems in an improved automobile-on-the-highway collision avoidance and warning system.
c. Conventional Multiple Target Detection and Tracking Systems for Making Automobile-On-The-Road Collision Avoidance Determinations
A wide variety of mechanisms are well known for detecting targets and obstacles and for determining a wide variety of collision relevant parameters relative to the detected targets. The sensed and calculated information from the detected targets is employed in a wide variety of known contexts to avoid collision. Such known systems include a wide variety of optical, electro-optical, radar, lidar, and magnetic sensor and video imaging devices, including U.S. Patent Numbers Maekawa U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,217; Taylor U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,157; Kajiwara U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,462; DeFour U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,196; Lemelson U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,029; Lemelson U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,038; Kelley U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,171; O'Brien U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,344; Shaw U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,037; Asbury U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,426; Asbury U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,038; Asbury U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,956; Butsuen U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,057; Broxmeyer U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,591; Shyu U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,726; Chi U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,497; Mayeau U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,107; Kurami U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,585; Schwarzinger, Michael, Vision-Based Car-Following: Detection, Tracking, and Identification July 1992, pgs. 24-29; Masaki, Ichiro, Vision-based Vehicle Guidance, Springer-Verlag, N.Y., 1992; Yu, Xuan, Road Tracking, Lane Segmentation and Obstacle Recognition by Mathematical Morphology, July 1992, pgs. 166-172; Ulmer, Berhold, VITA-An Autonomous Road Vehicle (ARV) for Collision Avoidance in Traffic, July 1992, pgs. 36-41; Ulmer, Berhold, Autonomous Automated Driving in Real Traffic, December 1994, pgs. 2118-2125; Sekine, Manabu, Design Method for An Automotive Laser Radar System and Future Prospects for Laser Radar, July 1992, pgs. 120-125; Rock, Denny, Intelligent Road Transit: The Next Generation, AI Expert, April 1994, pgs. 17-24; Teuber, Jan, Digital Image Processing, Prentice Hall, N.Y., 1989; Graefe, Volker, Vision for Intelligent Road Vehicles, July 1992, pgs. 135-140; Enkelman, W., Realization of Driver's Warning Assistant for Intersections, July 1992, pgs. 72-77; Efenberger, Wolfgang, Automatic Recognition of Vehicles Approaching From Behind, July 1992, pgs. 57-62; Rossle, S., Real-Time Vision-Based Intersection Detection for a Driver's Warning Assistant, July 1992, pgs. 340-44 each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, these systems fail to provide such back-up scanning and multiple target detection and tracking as part of an integrated GPS/DGPS/LPS collision avoidance and warning system capable of omni-directional multiple target, fuzzy logic, centimeter accurate, automobile-on-the-highway, operational environment.
Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide information descriptive of particular hazards and objects in the pathway of vehicles that represent dangerous situations derived from conventional image analysis systems and methods carried on individual vehicles which use television or other conventional roadway scanning technologies and to integrate such information in real time with vehicle location and tracking information derived from GPS and Pseudolite vehicle positioning and tracking information.
Another object of the present invention is to use such real time image analysis systems and methods to derive relative kinematic positioning information between automobiles-on-the-highway and between such vehicles and other roadway objects and hazards, and to use such image analysis derived relative position and movement information to augment and supplement information derived using GPS and Pseudolite vehicle tracking technology to provide accurate potential collision data.
Yet another object of these inventions is to integrate additional ranging information between roadway vehicles and between vehicles and other roadway hazards and objects using conventional radar and/or lidar techniques and methods to derive that information.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a motor vehicle collision avoidance warning control system and method that is responsive to hazards in all directions around individual vehicles including hazards and/or objects that may become hazards in the front, to the rear and to both sides of individual vehicles.
d. Displaying Symbology of Self and Multiple Targets to Avoid Collision and Synthesizing Speech
It is also known to display multiple target information and symbols with selected collision avoidance data, maneuvers, and symbols supplemented by voice synthesis. See O'Sullivan U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,966, Zechnall U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,219, and Hancock U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,377 each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Such displays have not been suggested, however, in an integrated GPS/DGPS/LPS collision avoidance and warning system capable of a multiple target, centimeter accurate, fuzzy logic implemented, automobile-on-the-highway operational environment.
Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide an automobile-on-the-highway, fuzzy logic implemented collision avoidance, and warning control system and method that uses speech recognition and speech synthesis technology to optimally integrate spoken commands and warnings from vehicle drivers or other personnel and to synthesize on a real time basis audible vehicle warning commands to vehicle drivers.
e. Neural Networking, Parallel Computing, Weighting Factors Relative to Multiple Targets in Automobile-on-the-Highway
In a system by Lupo, Jasper, Defense Applications of Neural Networks, IEEE Communications, November 1989, Vol. 27, No. 11, pgs 82-7, there is disclosed a defense application of neural networks in which the human cerebral cortex has biological neurons numbering 10.sup.11 each of which has 100 dendrites which form 10.sup.4 synapses. Lupo says the human brain systems function at 100 Hz which is a cycle time of 10 ms. He says it functions at about 10.sup.16 interconnections per second and that this capability is beyond anything that can be reconstructed or modeled. However, by understanding how biological brains perform information processing, it is possible to model that understanding and implement it in hardware. Lupo says that projected technologies within the next years with digital signal processing can provide 10.sup.10 interconnections per second with optics at 10.sup.12 interconnections per second. Potential applications include multiple targets and battle scenarios acquired by radar/electro-optical process real-time. Lupo concludes neural networks can break the lock jam.
Pomerleau, Dean A., Progress in Neural Network-Based Vision 1for Autonomous Robot Driving, July 1992, pgs. 391-96, discloses a neural network based vision system which quickly learns to steer an automobile by watching a person drive. More rare scenarios had to be modeled and integrated into the system in order to generalize a good result over a 25 mile stretch at 55 miles per hour.
Emry U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,835 disclosed a motor vehicle collision avoidance method and system which determined safe stopping distance by storing weighing factors corresponding to a range of vehicle parameters/driving conditions, entering actual parameters/driving conditions/speed and calculating safe driving distance. Thus, Emry brings weighing factors into combination with neural networks. As seen below, it is also generally known to combine neural networks and fuzzy logic. The Lupo, Pomerleau, and Emry references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide improvements using advanced image analysis techniques and methods including the use of neural networks and advanced high-speed image processor architectures to derive roadway image information as part of an automobile-on-the-highway, collision avoidance and warning system which provides omni-directional, fuzzy logic implemented collision avoidance warnings and maneuvers.
f. Controlling Automobile-On-The-Highway Using Fuzzy Values
In general, expert systems using fuzzy logic inference rules are well known, as described in the following publications, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety: Gottwald, Siegried, Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic: The Foundations of Application--from a Mathematical Point of View, Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig Wiesbaden (1993), ISBN 3-528-05311-9; McNeil, Daniel, Fuzzy Logic, Simon & Schuster, New York (1993), ISBN 0-671-73843-7; Marks, Robert J. II, Fuzzy Logic Technology and Applications, IEEE Technology Update Series (1994), ISBN 0-7803-1383-6, IEEE Catalog No. 94CR0101-6; Bosacchi, Bruno and Bezdek, James C, Applications of Fuzzy Logic Technology, Sep. 8-10, 1993, Boston, Mass., sponsored and published by the SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering, SPIE No. 2061, ISBN 0-8194-1326-7; Mendel, Jerry M., "Fuzzy Logic Systems for Engineering: A Tutorial", Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 83, No. 3, March 1995, pgs. 345-377; Jang, Jyh-Shing Roger, Sun, Chuen-Tsai, "Neuro-Fuzzy Modeling and Control", Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 83, No. 3, March 1995, pgs. 378-406; Schwartz, Klir, "Fuzzy Logic Flowers in Japan", IEEE Spectrum, July 1992, pgs. 32-35; Kosko, Isaka, "Fuzzy Logic", Scientific American, July 1993, pgs. 76-81; Cox, "Fuzzy Fundamentals", IEEE Spectrum, October 1992, pgs. 58-61; Brubaker, "Fuzzy Operators", EDN, Nov. 9, 1995, pgs. 239-241.
It is also known to generally use fuzzy logic values in connection with a collision avoidance system. See the references described below each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. Apparently, the earliest known use was by Yasunobu U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,689 in a patent filed in Japan Apr. 25, 1983. Yasunobu's system was for stopping an automobile at a specific point by measuring distance, velocity, and acceleration between the host and target by selecting an amount of braking maintained by comparing to and using fuzzy values of the same. In a system by Kurami U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,585 a pair of scanning video cameras to develop local data and global data which when processed through a fuzzy logic system generated control signals for steering, braking, and accelerator and turn signals. Since that disclosure, fuzzy logic has achieved further development in the collision avoidance field. See also, Adachi U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,619 which controlled throttle and brake, and Lee, C. C., Fuzzy Logic in Control Systems: Fuzzy Logic Controller, Part II, IEEE, March/April 1990, Vol. 20, No. 2, pgs. 419-35, which discloses the capability of a fuzzy computer capable of 10 Megaflips. Aurrand-Lions, J. P., Application of Fuzzy Control for ISIS Vehicle Braking, November 1991, pgs. 1-7, described an application of fuzzy logic for the ISIS vehicle braking system in which the vehicle was braked when the driver failed to act. The fuzzy controller calculated brake pressure to observe speed limits from roadway beacons wherein the clock rate was 100 ms. More recent published articles combined fuzzy logic and neural networks. See Nijhius, Jos, Evaluation of Fuzzy and Neural Vehicle Control, March 1996, pgs. 51-55 and Kenue, Surender, Embedding Fuzzy Knowledge into Neural Networks for Control Applications, Vehicle System Dept. General Motors R&D Center, Warren, Mich., Sep. 25, 1995, pgs. 72-7. See also, Hashimoto, Kinshiro, An Image Processing Architecture and A Motion Control Method For An Autonomous Vehicle, July 1992, pgs 213-18, which discloses an image processing architecture and a motion control method for an autonomous vehicle in which road boundaries are extracted and images are processed with an action decision being made using a fuzzy logic trajectory calculation.
Overall, however, the prior development of fuzzy logic in combination with neural networks falls far short of that necessary to provide a truly integrated system for optimizing coordinated control of steering, brakes and accelerator in an automobile-on-the-highway environment which detects targets omni-directionally and provides prioritized collision avoidance maneuvers with centimeter accuracy.
While the above listed patents and known applications of GPS and fuzzy logic/expert system technology represent important innovations, none of these systems or methods takes full advantage of the capability of centimeter accurate GPS based systems used in combination with video scanning systems, radar/lidar, neural network, and fuzzy logic/expert systems and methods to implement a truly integrated motor vehicle collision avoidance and warning system and method. In view of the ever increasing danger of automobile collisions, it is critically important that these advanced technologies be brought together in an organized manner to implement effective collision avoidance and warning systems and methods useful in minimizing the effects of such collisions.
Accordingly, it is a further object of these inventions to provide a motor vehicle collision avoidance warning control system and method that uses fuzzy logic and/or expert system techniques and methods to derive optimal vehicle control and warning signals based on multiple vehicle motion vectors, hazard and object location information, roadway condition information, weather information, and other similar data pertinent to evaluating a dangerous driving situation and deriving optimal control responses.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a motor vehicle collision avoidance and warning control system and method that serves to warn drivers of impending dangerous situations and, in the event that the driver does not take corrective action, to automatically control the vehicle braking, steering and acceleration in a coordinated manner in response to the dangerous situation.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a motor vehicle collision avoidance warning and control system and method that derives signals for automated control of vehicle braking, acceleration and steering wherein such control represents an optimum combination of braking, acceleration and steering in an attempt to avoid and minimize the effects of impending collisions.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a motor vehicle collision avoidance and warning control system and method that is responsive to multiple simultaneous hazards that may exist with respect to individual vehicles, and to derive control and warning signals that attempt to simultaneously avoid collisions with such multiple hazards, or to at least minimize collision impact effects with these hazards.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a motor vehicle collision avoidance and warning control system and method that may be integrated with vehicle position locating systems that provide vehicle location information to the vehicle driver or to others interested in the vehicle location, for example, to locate stolen vehicles or provide emergency assistance to individual vehicles and occupants.
It is a further object of the present invention is to use on-board speedometers and/or accelerometers to derive yet further vehicle motion vectors for use in collision avoidance and driver warning system calculations.
Accordingly, in addition to the specific objects of the present invention set forth above, further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the Summary and Detailed Description of the Invention which follows.